1. ليلى أَبعدُكِ أم جفاؤكِ أفدحُ

    والموتُ فيكِ أم الجنونُ الأربح

    Layla, is your absence or your coldness more grievous?

    And is death for your sake or madness the greater gain?

  2. عجباً لقلبٍ هيضَ فيك جناحُه

    وثوى به نَصلُ الندامةِ يذبحُ

    A marvel: a heart whose wing was broken for you,

    And in which remorse's blade lay lodged, slaying it.

  3. ومضَى الحِمام يدبُّ فيه فإن جَرَت

    ذكراكِ طارَ إليكِ وَهوَ مجنَّحُ

    And death crept through it; yet if there came

    A memory of you, it flew to you on wings.

  4. لهفي على الناقوسِ بين جوانحي

    وعلى بقيةِ هيكلٍ لا تصلحُ

    How I grieve for the bell between my ribs,

    And for the remains of a temple beyond repair.

  5. لا فرقَ بين أنينِه ورنينه

    وصداه في وادي المنيَّةِ أوضحُ

    There is no difference between its moaning and its ringing,

    And its echo is clearer in the valley of death.

  6. يا قلبُ صهباءُ الهوى وبساطُه

    وكؤوسُه المتجاوباتُ الصُدَّحُ

    O heart, love's tawny wine and its carpet,

    And its cups, singing in answer to one another,

  7. وقفٌ على متنقلينَ على الهوى

    يبغون من لذَّاتِه ما يسنحُ

    Are reserved for those who wander at whim,

    Seeking whatever of its pleasures comes their way,

  8. متبدلينَ موائداً وأحبةً

    ما خابَ مِن حبٍّ فآخرُ يفلحُ

    Changing tables and lovers;

    When one love fails, another succeeds.

  9. فالحب آسيه وراءَ عليله

    فيهم وبلسمُه على ما يجرحُ

    For love's healer follows its sufferer

    Among them, and its balm covers whatever it wounds.

  10. يا قلبُ ويحَ ثباتِنَا ماذا جنى

    أترى شعاعاً في الدجنَّة يُلمَحُ

    O heart, alas for our constancy—what has it reaped?

    Can you glimpse a ray of light amid the gloom?

  11. يا أيها الحبُّ المقدَّسُ هيكلاً

    ذاقَ الردى من عابديك مُسَبِّحُ

    O love, hallowed as a temple,

    One of your worshippers, chanting praise, has tasted death.

  12. كثرت ضحاياه وطال قيامُه

    وصيامه فمتى رضاءَك تَمنحُ

    His sacrifices multiplied, and his vigils grew long,

    And his fasting—so when will you grant your favor?

  13. يا دوحةَ الأرواحِ يُحمَدُ عندها

    فيءٌ ويعبد زهرُهَا المتفتحُ

    O spreading tree of souls, beneath which is praised

    Shade, and whose unfolding blossoms are worshipped,

  14. أينالُ ظلَّكِ والرعاية عابثٌ

    بجلالكِ البادي وآخرُ يمزحُ

    Do your shade and care go to one who trifles

    With your manifest majesty, and another who jests,

  15. ويبيتُ يُحرَمهُ قتيلُ صبابةٍ

    قَضَّى الحياةَ إلى ظلالِكَ يطمحُ

    While one slain by longing spends the night denied them,

    Having spent his life aspiring to your shade?

  16. ليلى حببتُكِ كالحياةِ وذقت في

    ناديكِ كأساً بالأماني تطفحُ

    Layla, I loved you as I loved life, and tasted in

    Your gathering a cup brimming with hopes.

  17. فتكسرت قدحُ المنى ورجعتُ مِن

    سقمِ الهوى وهزالِه أترنَّحُ

    Then the goblet of hopes shattered, and I came back from

    Love's sickness and its wasting, reeling.

  18. نزل الستارُ على الروايةِ وانقضت

    تلك الفصولُ وفُضَّ ذاك المسرحُ

    The curtain fell on the play, and over were

    Those acts, and that theatre was emptied.

  19. فالآنَ يا ليلى سلامَ مودِّعٍ

    بان خيالُكِ ليسَ عنه يبرحُ

    So now, Layla, a farewell from one departing,

    Who has left, though your image never leaves him.

  20. يجزيكِ عن قلبٍ ذوى نبتُ المنى

    فيه وفارقه الربيعُ المفرحُ

    He repays you for a heart whose shoots of hope withered

    Within it, and which joy-bringing spring deserted,

  21. عمراً سيلبثُ رهنَ حبِّكِ كله

    يُمسي على ذكراكِ فيه ويُصبحُ

    With a lifetime he will spend wholly captive to your love,

    Spending its evenings and mornings in remembrance of you.